Ace grinned as he and the team landed in HQ, pleasantly thinking about how the Technabber 7000 was carrying Stoney, Bugsy and Pinkster to the authorities to be sent to the slammer.
'Another day, another mission.' he said to himself.
The satisfying thought was interrupted when he felt a rather rough punch in the back of his shoulder.
"Hey! Take it easy the-"
The complaint died in his throat when he turned around and came nose-to-nose with a pair of furious green eyes. Ace gulped and tried pulling off a smile, but the corners of his mouth didn't quite reach his own eyes.
"Um, uh, he he, hiya Lex." he said.
Lexi didn't say "hiya" back. Instead, she grabbed Ace by the forearm, harshly too.
"You and I need to have a talk." she said as she started walking, pulling him along.
She stopped, and glared at the other Loonatics. They quivered under her gaze, which held enough venom to kill at least two medium-sized dogs and a squirrel. Duck and Rev even tried hiding behind the couch.
"In private." she added, emphasizing the last word.
'Oh boy; I'm in trouble now.' Ace thought, sweating profusely.
Lexi dragged him onto the balcony outside, slamming the door behind her, unaware that Ace was mouthing the words "Help me" to the other team members. When she'd made sure they were alone, she rounded on Ace, anger sparking in her eyes.
"Okay, okay, Lex," said Ace, his hands lifted in surrender, "I know you're mad right now…"
Lexi's frown deepened.
"Okay, really mad right now," he corrected, "But I don't understand why-"
He got no further. The slap could be heard throughout the whole HQ.
"Ow," Ace groaned, putting a hand to the bright red mark on his cheek. "That hoits."
But Lexi wasn't done with him yet.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" she yelled at him, getting right in his face and making the male bunny anthro back away.
"Eh…"
Blue eyes flitting around nervously, Ace tried to think of what she could be talking about. Nope, he couldn't think of anything. What had he done wrong? What had he done to piss Lexi off?
"Don't pretend that you don't know!" the pink-and-black she-bunny said, snapping Ace out of his nervous trance and pointing a finger right at his little black nose.
"I swear I ain't pretendin'." said Ace, taking a step back from Lex.
"You never said a thing about the curium 247 being delivered yesterday!" Lexi raged. "You never told us you were going to fake losing your powers! Do you have ANY idea how worried we were?! Any idea about how worried I was?! Do you know how scared I was, Ace?!"
Ace had thought of a lot of possibilities for the cause of Lexi's wrath. But he hadn't thought of this. Sure, he hadn't told her or the other loonatics about the fake curium. But the reason why was obvious: he didn't want to risk Pinkster finding out. He was sure that they had understood, and they did, and he was sure Lexi did too. But he hadn't expected her to react like this. She was so angry; she was practically shaking. No, she was shaking, a lot.
"Look L-Lex I'm really sorry I didn't tell ya," he stuttered. "B-But I didn't know you'd be a bit worried-"
"A BIT WORRIED?!"
The shout blew Ace's ears back like a strong wind. When he dared open his eyes, he was a bit shocked. Lexi wasn't just trembling with rage: she was on the brink of crying, tears of frustration welling in her eyes.
"I wasn't just "a bit worried", Ace!" she spat. "I was terrified! I thought you were dead! I thought I was going to lose you!"
Each statement was shakier than the last. Lexi's voice was choking up more and more. Ace was really shocked now. He'd never thought that Lexi cared about him so much that she'd nearly burst into tears because he faked his own death for a few moments. It made his heart do a little pitter-patter in his chest.
Now, don't get me wrong, Ace really liked Lexi, but he'd never thought of her having feelings like this towards him, of all male anthropomorphic rabbits. He'd always assumed his crush on Lexi would fade or that she wouldn't have the same feelings. Well, looked like he was wrong.
"Look, Lexi, I'm really sorry. I…I should've told you. But I didn't think you'd be this upset."
He then flinched, prepared for a punch or maybe another slap. But it never came. Instead, Lexi turned around, her fury seemingly drained. But Ace couldn't miss the fact that she was full-out crying now. She was clearly trying to get a hold of herself, but not doing a very good job.
"Of c-course I'd be this upset, you long-eared moron." she managed to choke out, facing Ace again.
She looked down, refusing to meet his eye.
"I c-care about y-you. A lot."
Now, the pitter-patter in the leader's chest had turned into a flippity-flop-bada-boom-bam-crash. Was Lexi…oh boy…
"Lexi…Are you sayin' what I think you're sayin'?"
Lexi hesitated, then grabbed the front of Ace's shirt. Ace expected another attack, but was a mite surprised when Lexi pulled him forward and when he felt her press her lips against his own. His eyes shot open to their widest possible degree. His ears stood on end so that they shot up even straighter than usual, as though they'd been electrified.
For a moment, he was thinking that this was just a dream. Lexi couldn't be kissing him for real, no way. The mere thought of kissing Lexi had always made Ace blush, space out, and then try to shrug it off and find desperate measures to think of other things. But this was all too real. Lexi was kissing him! And seemed to really like kissing him. But just as he was about to kiss her back, Lexi pulled away. Her eyes were a bit red and puffy, but the flow of her tears was slower now.
"Ya couldn't just say "yes"?" Ace asked, wearing the world's biggest smile.
Lexi laughed lightly, finally smiling.
"You know I like to say things in my own way." she said, trying to wipe her eyes.
Ace's hand stopped her, resting on her cheek. She looked up at him. His smile had become less over-the-moon-happy, but faded into a sweet grin. His eyes had softened, looking at her with the utmost adoration.
"Then just keep talkin'." he said.
She smiled again, before their lips met once more. Lexi's palms rested on Ace's shoulders while his arms wrapped around her waist.
'Now this is much betta,' Ace thought before giving away to feeling.
The kiss lasted a good long minute and a half before it was inevitably interrupted.
"Ace! We're here to rescue you from the fury of…"
Duck burst through the door, expecting to see Ace being pummeled to a pulp by Lexi. Instead, he was faced with the two rabbits kissing. Well, they jumped apart when they realised their little space of paradise had been intruded.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here?" he said, leaning against the door in a nonchalant manner.
Now, the two previously-kissing rabbits were frowning at him.
"Duck," said Lexi, a warning tone in her voice.
"Yes'm?"
"Would you mind goin' back inside?" Ace asked, arms crossed and frowning even deeper.
"Awww, can't I stay? I promise I'll be quiet." Duck said.
Instead of replying, Ace's eyes glowed yellow.
"Uh oh," Duck whimpered, his irises shrinking to pencil-dot size.
He scrambled to get through the door as Ace's laser vision missed him by a hair. He slammed the door, but not quick enough. Ace had blasted him again, this time hitting him right on his feathery behind.
"YYYYOOWW!" the waterfowl cried.
Ace smirked, eyes returning to normal.
"You couldn't let me get him, could ya?" Lexi asked, smiling at Ace.
"Ah, don't worry." he replied, taking her hand in his. "I promise you can blast him next time."
The two rabbits headed inside. As Duck spotted them, he dove behind the couch in fear, letting out a yell of:
"Mercy! Spare me!"
Ace smirked and Lexi giggled at the sight. Tech spotted their hands linked together.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but here goes: What happened?" the coyote asked.
Ace looked over at Lexi.
"Let's just say that fake curium had a silver linin' after all." Ace said.
Tech only looked more baffled. He looked even more so when Ace led Lexi to the training room for some privacy.
"So where were we?" Ace asked once the electronic door had shut.
"I think we were right about here." Lexi said, "walking" her fingers up his chest and letting one rest on his lips.
They leaned for a kiss…
"Hold on a second." Ace said.
Without severing their embrace, he pushed a few buttons on the wall next to them. The virtual trainer was activated. But instead of virtual warriors for them to fight, it created a beautiful background of a sunset beach.
"You never told me you had a romantic side." Lexi said.
"I watched a lot o' romance movies." Ace admitted, shrugging.
"Smart, brave, sweet, handsome AND into romance movies? You sure this isn't a dream?"
"Believe me, if this was a dream, this," Ace pointed to the fading but still red mark on his cheek, "wouldn't be here."
"Aww, did I hurt the poor bunny?" Lexi cooed, caressing his cheek, not without excluding a bit of concern.
"Nah," Ace said, grinning. "Takes more than a slap or a bunch of rock to put me down."
"I'm glad." said Lexi, before kissing Ace again.